“His statement is challenging if the state is not going to step up … this is not just a county issue this is a state issue because Trenton is the state capital,” said Freeholder Sam Frisby.

A Trenton native, Frisby was very vocal during Thursday night’s Freeholder meeting, pointing out the dwindling financial support the state has provided despite holding a large part of the city’s real estate.

“The state should pay tax on the 35 percent of the city they sit on. They expect the city’s resources to protect those buildings, but they don’t want to pay a tax to the city.”

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Additionally, according to the board, a fiscal cap on law enforcement, annual cuts in state aid and a lack of resources has propelled the city’s crime rate and near record breaking number of homicides in 2013.

The entire Freeholder board was in consensus — wondering why the governor would make a suggestion to create a county wide law enforcement department and to compare Trenton’s surge in crime with Camden’s — without any research or discussion with Mercer officials.

“One of the things we have is a governor with a tendency to shoot from the hip. The problem is he shoots with magical bullets,” said Freeholder Andy Koontz.

“We need to proceed carefully; but to think there is a magic bullet that will solve the problems in Trenton is naïve. And the fact that the governor is drawing an equivalency with Mercer County and Camden County demonstrates he doesn’t know anything about the two counties. He should take the time to learn more about Mercer County.”

Koontz continued to stress that although a county-wide police force may help Trenton’s rising crime statistics, neighboring municipalities, should not feel the effects of decreased public safety in their neighborhoods as a result of a newly formed police force. “That is a tall order and it’s dealing with the reality of providing appropriate public safety in all of our municipalities,” said Koontz.

County Executive, Brian Hughes was also annoyed by the comment made by Gov. Christie, saying that the leader has just started to recognize a problem which was brought to his attention years ago by local government.

“There has been a lot of mayhem in Trenton recently, but about a year and a half ago our administration tried to create a county police force and we did bring that to the attention of the governor. There was not much interest by our two biggest municipalities, Trenton or Hamilton,” said Hughes

“In fact, now convicted Mayor Bencivengo, was most vocal about not having a county force and there are a lot of political problems right now in Trenton. The county does not have the authority to dissolve the municipality’s PBA contract. That is up to the politicians in Trenton to do that.”

Hughes continued to berate Christie, and noted that if Mercer County mimics Camden’s volunteer opt-in county force, it would basically be a reorganizing and rebranding of the city’s police force.

“In Camden they took the Camden police force and made them into a county police force. They basically reshuffled the same deck. And they saved money because currently there is no union contract.”

Freeholder John Cimino suggested the governor release public safety services in stages, recommending an emergency task force of state troopers to sweep the city of crime now and a long term goal to create a county-wide police department only after a significant amount of research has been completed.

“They started this process in Camden in 2011, and it is only now, two years later, that they are starting to see the results of a county police force,” said Cimino who pointed out the creating of a county force also allocates tons of additional funding from the state to the city.

“We’re going to need some assistance to undertake such an endeavor, it is something we should explore from a county perspective and perhaps have a study on how a county police force might help in the long run…we have a lot of investment in Trenton, between the baseball field and the arena and we need to protect our investment.”

State Sen. Shirley Turner agrees there needs to be stepped up law enforcement to increase security within the city and its outlying areas.

“A county police force is something to considering and exactly what shaped or how it is proposed, will take considerable thought,” she said. “I agree with the Mercer County Prosecutor that it’s an idea worth exploring, but the proposal should be discussed along with others, this will not happen overnight and it takes a long time to get all the stakeholders to buy in.”

Turner suggested the brewing crime is a byproduct of the cut in Trenton law enforcement which occurred in 2011. Over 100 police officers were laid off as a cost cutting measure by the city. Additionally, state troopers who currently conduct periodic sweeps of the city, do not resolve the larger drug and gang problem within Trenton. “Gang members are very savvy they know when (the troopers) are coming and they know when (the troopers) leave,” Turner said.

Christie, who has been chastised in the past for using press conferences to further his own political agenda, was scrutinized once again during the Freeholder meeting.

“The timing seems a bit suspect,” said Freeholder Pat Colavita Jr. “It took 30 murders in the city to get his attention? I really hope this doesn’t get tossed into the political arena for the wrong reasons.”